Sam Eguavoen’s emergence with Dolphins could make Raekwon McMillan and Kiko Alonso expendable

Miami Dolphins linebacker Sam Eguavoen discusses the advantage of coming from the CFL and explains how to say his name.

In one training camp Sam Eguavoen has transformed himself from a CFL import with a chance to make the roster into an NFL starter for the Miami Dolphins.

Eguavoen’s pass-coverage skills impressed Miami’s coaches so much during organized team activities this spring that the former Saskatchewan Roughriders standout began training camp ahead of Raekwon McMillan and Kiko Alonso on the depth chart, and he hasn’t eased up one bit.

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Eguavoen will be making his third start of the preseason in Thursday night’s regular-season dress rehearsal against the Jacksonville Jaguars, serving as one of the two starting linebackers in Miami’s nickel based defense.

Eguavoen made eight tackles and forced a fumble in Miami’s 16-14 preseason loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week, bringing his tackle total to 11 in the exhibition season.

“I never see myself being second to anybody,” said Eguavoen, who contributed 159 tackles, one interception, forced two fumbles and recovered one during his three seasons in the CFL.

“That’s just my mindset that I grew up in whether it’s basketball, ping pong, anything. I never want to be behind anybody. I think that’s how a good team is built, if everybody has that mindset of, ‘I’m going to be the starter.”

Eguavoen’s strengths as a pass defender, which he sharpened while playing in the pass-happy CFL, makes him an ideal fit for Miami’s defense because the linebackers are primarily responsible for working in space.

“He’s smart, he’s fast, he’s explosive. It’s just cool just to have a guy like that out there. He understands the defense,” said Jerome Baker, Miami’s other starting linebacker, and the defense’s play-caller. “He’s similar to me, just quiet.”

Eguavoen’s emergence, and Miami’s new hybrid scheme, which utilizes more safeties than it does traditional linebackers, could make McMillan and Alonso expendable.

Neither linebacker has practiced much this month because of undisclosed injuries they are nursing, and the fact that Baker has become the primary signal-caller on the defense, and the team’s top blitzer means he’s also locked into a starting role.

NFL teams will use the next two weeks to discuss trades, bartering expendable players other team’s might be interested in for draft picks and to fill positions of need.

The Dolphins already have 12 picks for 2020 draft, and there’s a need to find help with the offensive line, which is searching for an offensive tackle.

McMillan, the Dolphins’ 2017 second-round pick, contributed 105 tackles (69 solo) and forced two fumbles last season. But the former Ohio State standout is viewed as a two-down linebacker because of his shortcomings in pass coverage.

McMillan is slated to earn $892,049 this season, and he’s in the third-year of his rookie deal, and is slated to make $1,105,573 next season.

Alonso, a three-year starter for the Dolphins, led the team with 125 tackles (79 solo) last season. He also pulled down three interceptions and forced three fumbles in the 15 games he played in 2018.

Alonso, who is beginning his seventh season in the NFL, is due $6,510,000, and $2.5 million of his contract got guaranteed last Saturday. He’s signed for $6.4 million in 2020, but none of that contract is guaranteed, which means his deal movable.

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However, if Miami trades either Alonso or McMillan, the team would have depth issues because Chase Allen is the only player on the roster who has started an NFL game, and he’s missed all of training camp with an undisclosed injury.

And most of Miami’s other linebackers are either undrafted rookies — Tre’ Watson and Terrill Hanks — or players viewed as possible special teams contributors.